HORIZON Project under the Supervision of Our Rectorate Prof. Dr. İsmail Koyuncu

by Ali İzzet Cengiz | Sep 19, 2022

In the 2022 calls under the Horizon Europe Program Cluster 4 Industry Areas "Goal 1: Climate-neutral, circular and digital production" and "Goal 2: Increased autonomy in key strategic value chains for the durable industry", 10 different projects were eligible for support by the European Commission.

Within the scope of the HORIZON-CL4-2022-RESILIENCE-01 call, a project proposed by National Resarch Center on Membrane Technologies (MEM-TEK), which is among the project partners, titled "Customised membranes for green and resilient industries (CUMERI)", which will be executed by Prof. İsmail Koyuncu, was entitled to be supported. A summary of the work to be done within the scope of the project is given below:

Increasing energy needs and resource efficiency in industrial sectors are crucial to building a resilient and sustainable future. In this context, advanced and customized membrane separation systems will be developed in two main sectors with Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 in the CUMERI project:

1) It will ensure H2 recovery and CO2 capture in one comprehensive system in the steel industry, and

2) the recovery of base oil and additives from used mineral oils with a two-stage liquid filtration system in the Petroleum and Natural Gas sector.

In order to achieve these goals, 16 partners have come together within the scope of the CUMERI project, and they will develop three different high-impact membrane technologies and will conduct its pilot-scale operation during the project, which will last for 36 months. These membrane types are;

1) Bio-based and recyclable polymer membranes developed for CO2 permeability;

2) Stable and selective SiC/SiCN membranes for H2 recovery for a better H2 valuation in the steel industry;

3) Ultrafiltration and liquid-liquid membrane contactors and ceramic membranes for waste oil treatment and recovery of additives.

All membrane systems will break ground to greater energy efficiency and reduced emissions in their respective sectors. It is aimed to show high separation performance with increased chemical, mechanical and thermal stability. In addition, the reuse and recycling of membranes will be ensured. Beyond these goals, our project will generate new insights into membrane separation, including a variety of flexible solutions, to accelerate the diffusion of separation technologies to industry, the scientific community and policy makers. Other promising separation technologies will be explored to maximize the impact of CUMERI and transferability of results to other industries (refinery, pharmaceuticals etc.) will be ensured. Through its activities, CUMERI will promote flexible and circular industrial value chains, paving the way for the reduction of emissions, increased utilization of valuable chemicals and more energy efficient processes in the sector.

İTÜ Environmental Engineering

The Environmental Engineering Department (EED) of Istanbul Technical University (ITU), being one of the leading departments of the Turkish Republic (TR) in the field of environmental engineering education and research, had first started as a graduate program in 1973 within the School of Civil Engineering. At that time, a double stage education model; which consisted of a 4-year Bachelor and a 1.5-year Masters education, was offered in the University. The department itself was established in 1975, followed by the initiation of the Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Program (EEUP) in 1978. EEUP at ITU had started with a group of staff consisting of 2 Professors, 4 Research Assistants with Ph.D. degrees and of 4 Research Assistants conducting their graduate studies. In 1982, the EED has been relocated to the Ayazağa Campus under Civil Engineering Faculty.

EED had promoted and practiced the English-Supported Education (ESE), initiated in the 1989-1990 academic year in coordination with the University. ESE was an option, in which the students, who chose to pursue this path, could take some of the elective courses in English. Compulsory bilingual education was started in the 1997-1998 academic year. Additionally, successful EEUP students have the opportunity to get a second undergraduate degree under the Double Major Program comprising 9 different undergraduate programs of ITU.